1. Gretchen Peterson LIBS 100 W10 The Search Strategy

2. Remember, research is a process! Research takes time Don’t rush through the steps Have patience with yourself as we discuss new information Our discussion today will focus on steps you will take to find information in databases

3. The Search Strategy 1. Pick a topic 2. Restate your topic as a question 3. Identify keywords 4. Develop synonyms 5. Phrase searching 6. Boolean searching 7. Set up search string(s)

4. 1. Pick a Topic Topics that you select for papers and assignments at Bryant & Stratton MUST be college level Example: Global Warming

5. 2. Restate Your Topic as a Question A good research question for a college class is not just a definition, but a question that asks for deeper levels of information A good research question for a college class cannot be answered with a simple yes or no answer Example of a good research question: What are the causes and effects of global warming? Example of a bad research question: What is the definition of global warming?

6. 3. Identify Keywords Look at your research question to identify keywords Keywords describe major concepts in your research topic Keywords will help you find information on your topic You will use your keywords when you search for information on your topic Keywords will not be words like: a, an, the, and, or, but, in, of, for, on, into, from, than, at, to, as, also, probably, however, very, this, that, those, is, be, see, do See p. 6 in Barker/Terry for more discussion about keywords

7. 3. Identify Keywords Our research question is: What are the causes and effects of global warming? What do you think the keywords would be? Causes Effects Global warming

8. 4. Develop Synonyms What are synonyms? A word or words that have the same or almost the same meaning as another word or words Synonyms are similar! We develop synonyms in order to make sure that we find as much relevant information as possible Synonyms should be incorporated into your searches Example: What are the causes and effects of global warming? Synonyms for global warming= climate change, greenhouse effect

9. 5. Phrase Searching You only use phrase searching when one or more of your keywords is made up of more than one word Searching for the keyword causes is not considered phrase searching Searching for the keyword “global warming” is an example of phrase searching Phrase searching is often times indicated by the use of quotation marks around your phrase You don’t need to use quotation marks around your keyword if it is made up of just one word

10. Boolean Searching What is Boolean Searching? Boolean Searching refers to use the use of Boolean Operators used to combine keyword together Boolean Operators include: AND, OR, and NOT AND narrows your search results OR expands your search results NOT narrows your search results Most of your searches will be AND searches What on earth does all of this mean?

11. Boolean Operator Activity Time!

12. Venn Diagrams Venn Diagrams date back to the 1880s and are used to demonstrate set relationships in the fields of probability, logic, statistics, and computer science You don’t need to understand the math behind Venn Diagrams You will need to understand some key points about Venn Diagrams Venn Diagrams are often used to demonstrate Boolean searching Venn Diagrams are representations of how the different Boolean Operators impact search results See p. 26-27 in Barker/Terry for more information

13. OR Venn Diagram Example: Chocolate OR Pickles

14. AND Venn Diagram Example: Chocolate AND Pickles

15. NOT Venn Diagram Example: Chocolate NOT Pickles ChocolatePickles

16. 7. Set up Search Strings Search strings are NOT the same as your research question Search strings incorporate your keywords, synonyms and Boolean Operators As a result, search strings look a little strange! Here is an example of a search string, using our global warming research question: (“global warming” OR “climate change) AND causes AND effects You may have to create several search strings in order to get to the information that you really need

17. Questions? Let’s try another example together!